Pat from Disney's 'Smart House'

Editor's note: Every week we ask people around the office a question about pop culture. This week we wanted to know which gadgets in movies people wish they could have in real life.

I think it would be awesome if Pat the smart house from the Disney Channel original movie "Smart House" (Disney-ABC Domestic Television) existed in real life (minus the part where it goes crazy and takes the family hostage.) Pat was great, she (it) did all the chores, cooking and even helped with homework. She went slightly rogue and planned an entire party for the son, Ben, after his dad said he wanted him to "have more fun in his life." Then she cleaned the entire house before Ben's dad got home. Pat was the first house of the future and I think it was pretty awesome.

Pee Wee Herman's bike

Since I was a kid I've always wanted Pee-wee Herman's bike from the film "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" (Warner Bros.). You don't need to dope to win the Tour De France, you just need Pee-wee's bike. Let me describe the most amazing bike ever: shiny red fins, a lion's head speaker, handlebar ribbons, propeller headlight, red and white fenders, a built-in compass and a control panel that activates oil slicks and rocket power -- all handy when being chased across a movie studio. Like Pee-wee, I would definitely keep it secured in secret lair behind shrubbery that could only be accessed via the hidden password panel in the siding of my house. After all, I wouldn't want it to end up in the basement of the Alamo.

The Hover DeLorean

I have to go with the hover-converted DeLorean time machine from "Back to the Future II" (Universal Pictures).

This way I'd get two gadgets in one. I'd have a flying car and a time machine. I've always wanted to be able to travel through time, but for those times when I couldn't decide when and where to go, I'd still have a car that could get me past any commute traffic.

SQUID from 'Strange Days'

I want a SQUID from "Strange Days" (20th Century Fox - USA, Universal Pictures - international). It was an illegal device that allowed the wearer to record what was happening to him or her to some sort of MiniDisk. What was being recorded was straight from the wearer's cerebral cortex and could be experienced afterwards by another person. It was basically a virtual reality mechanism that allowed a person to feel and live exactly the same experience another person had. Or, in the case of Lenny (Ralph Fiennes), relive all his own good memories with ex-girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis).

A part of me still thinks that all those VR headsets out there got it wrong, we don't need a phone inside a pair of goggles. What we need is the SQUID.

Pin from 'Tomorrowland'

I'm a sucker for the hopeful retro-futuristic vision for society brought to life in in Disney's 2015 sci-fi fantasy "Tomorrowland" (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures). The movie is full of wild inventions, but the one I wanted for myself was the pin.

Our hero, teenager Casey Newton, touches a small pin -- a badge with the letter "T" (for Tomorrowland, of course) -- that instantly transports her to the secret society of scientists and inventors. In this world, jetpacks, androids and flying trains are just part of an average day. Only she can see this world when touching the pin, because the pin is programmed to her DNA.

Spoiler alert: She's not actually teleported to another place by touching it. The pin is essentially a perfect form of virtual reality, a pre-recorded advertisement that motivates her to find a real way into the world. It's the ultimate in entertainment: VR with no headset, no wires. No special room (I'm looking at you, Holodeck). You can be completely immersed in the sights and sounds of another world just through touch -- assuming you're cool with giving a company your DNA to program it for you.

Star Trek Transporter

I would have to go with any version Transporter from "Star Trek" (CBS). Though the idea of having ones atoms scattered across the universe (as Dr. McCoy would moan about on many occasions) and then reassembled could open up multitude opportunities for mishap, I would gladly risk it for the convenience of whisking from one locale to another.

Star Trek Transporter

Jon Chaikin beat me to it, but I have to second his wish for the transporter from "Star Trek" (CBS). Yes, I suppose, strictly speaking, it debuted on TV rather than in the movies, but it's played a significant role in pretty much every Star Trek film (and other franchises under the ST umbrella) since the very beginning.

As I love to travel, the possibility of having my molecules disassembled on the West Coast and reassembled almost instantaneously in Paris sounds just too good. It's pretty much accepted that the flip-phone design that was so popular years ago was borrowed from the communicators in "Star Trek: The Original Series." So why can't we have a transporter, too?

Hydrator from 'Back to the Future II'

Obviously, there's a lot of great future technology in "Back to the Future II" (Universal Pictures), but the real charmer is the Black & Decker hydrator, seen when Marty's mom pops in a hockey-puck sized pizza and mere moments later she has a large pizza ready to go. Beyond my selfish desire to have gross fast-food pizza at a moment's notice, think of the good that is possible by having fresh food at the ready. Get on it, Black & Decker.

Bathroom Buddy from 'Gremlins'

For me, it's the Bathroom Buddy from "Gremlins" (Warner Bros.). I love to travel -- but sometimes I forget to pack at least one of these: my vanity mirror, toothbrush, toothpaste, dental mirror, dental floss, nail clippers, nail file, razor, and shaving cream. After all, that's a lot to remember! But if fictional inventor Randall Peltzer's famed Bathroom Buddy were real, I'd only have to grab a single device on my way out the door. That's my kind of gizmo!

Star Wars Lightsaber

It's such an obvious answer, I suppose, but how could you not want a Jedi Lightsaber? First activated on the big screen in "Star Wars: A New Hope" (20th Century Fox), Obi Wan was right to call it an "elegant weapon for a more civilized age."

Can you imagine if a fight broke out and someone whipped out a real lightsaber? I think the shock alone would send people running. I guess since I'm not a Jedi, a gun (regardless of how clumsy or random they are), would easily beat me, but I've been dreaming about owning a lightsaber for 30 years and I'm not going to stop now.